Press Room

Orlando, Fla. —January 27, 2002—Spherion® Technology is introducing a new ASP venture called Centraldesk. It provides organizations with the opportunity to use groupware applications via the Internet on a subscription basis. These applications are accessible from any PC running a standard browser and make it possible for companies to enable their own staff, customers, partners and suppliers to work together irrespective of place and time. Centraldesk will be officially launched during the Lotusphere 2002 conference in Orlando, Florida, , from January 27-31 2002.

Wide Choice of Standard Groupware Applications

The groupware solutions available online include, amongst other things, group scheduling, e-mail facilities, document management, news services, project support, central storage facilities, virtual team rooms, and chat features. In addition, Centraldesk provides groupware solutions to support and facilitate processes such as sales, marketing, human resource management, project management, procurement, e-learning, knowledge management and a large number of sector-specific applications. Companies can make their own selection from the available applications so as to create a custom "virtual office" for themselves. Centraldesk's online environment and applications are based on the leading groupware technology developed by IBM Lotus Software.

Major Savings on Investments and Cost of Ownership

Centraldesk is suitable for a broad range of organizations from small and medium-sized enterprises to very large distributed corporations. This concept is particularly appealing to companies which are looking for standard groupware functionality but do not wish to invest in licenses (initial or otherwise), the purchase or modification of hardware and infrastructure, maintenance, administration, upgrades, engaging external expertise and so forth. Centraldesk makes it possible to reduce one's direct expenses to a fixed monthly amount per user. According to Mark Verver, who is responsible for the commercial side of Centraldesk, this can generate significant savings. "We have calculated that a company with a staff of 100 members using Centraldesk could save itself more than USD 60,000 in initial investments and almost USD 80,000 per annum in cost ownership," says Verver. "In addition, this new concept can be implemented quickly and flexibly. Setting up a subscription is a matter of one or two working days. As a result, not only is the lead time extremely short but we also offer a large degree of scalability in relation to the number of users. A subscriber can allow the numbers to fluctuate as needed."

Alliances with Leading Organizations

Collaboration occurs with various partners for the development, commercial exploitation and marketing of Centraldesk. For instance, Lotus has been and is closely involved based on its groupware expertise. Centraldesk's groupware applications are hosted on heavy-duty, fully redundant IBM UNIX and storage servers located in a state-of-the-art CyberCenter. The CyberCenter offers an extremely high level of security both physically in terms of access, and virtually in terms of network security, power supply and so forth.

In addition, Centraldesk works with a large number of independent software suppliers on the development of Lotus groupware applications, usually sector or process-specific. In order to sell subscriptions, the company has opted for the establishment of an indirect channel of value-added resellers in the technology and telecommunications sectors. More information about Centraldesk and the availability of various products can be found at www.centraldesk.com.

About Spherion Technology

With its head office situated in Zeist , the , Spherion Technology develops, installs and administers integrated technology solutions within a large number of specialized areas. Spherion works primarily for the Top 200 companies in diverse sectors, such as financial services, insurance, business services, trade and industry. Spherion Technology is a past recipient of the Lotus Euro Beacon Award for excellence in education and training. The office employs more than 450 highly qualified personnel and is part of the internationally active Spherion group. Spherion Technology worldwide has more than 30 years of experience in the technology industry with 54 offices throughout North America and Europe and over 5,000 IT professionals. Visit the Company's Web site at www.spherion.com/technology.

Spherion Corporation provides Recruitment, Outsourcing and Technology services. Founded in 1946, with operations in North America , Europe and Asia/Pacific, Spherion helps companies efficiently plan, acquire and optimize talent to improve their bottom line.